Search results

I find the beer PH test strips (4.6-6ph) to be a useful indicator. Of course nowhere near as accurate as the Hanna instrument mentioned above, but it provides useful confirmation for my purposes.

I can see your point. Personally, it seems risky to me in the long run. No rinse sanitiser may help with preventing growth of bacteria as you say. I wouldn't use any cleaner unless well diluted in case it did leak in. I assumed people would only be using a water bath without a tap. But if it's...

As you've pointed out there is definitely potential for water to get into the fermenter through the tap seals and the tap will be full of bacteria come bottling. The warm water will encourage bacterial growth. Definitely wouldn't recommend it.

Understandable. I'm sure someone with experience of building similar will be along. Good luck with the project

Sounds interesting. Would it not be better to leave on at all times? At least to cellar temperatures? This will help the beer condition and I can't imagine you would save much energy by having to cool 20/40l + down from 20-25c in the summer? Would a beer cooler (maxi cooler or similar) not be...

I regularly get 1007 with Us-05, so with a good dose of dextrose, 1005 seems likely

Rotten egg (sulphur) is a normal smell in many lager yeasts during fermentation. It is often subtly detectable in a number of lagers in aroma and is often part of the style (hopefully not as strong as rotten eggs obviously!). Wouldn't worry

That makes sense. It sounds like a good method. I've always overbuilt starters with liquid yeast but have been using dry yeast more and more for less "yeast specific" beers. May give your method a go once I get some malt extract again. I recently bought some liberty bell and was impressed with...

Do you think there's a substantial benefit to storing in the freezer instead of the fridge? Is it just the yeast viability you're aiming to maintain? I've been doing some extra small batches recently and have been sotring half open dry packets in the fridge after resealing. Haven't experienced...

That's great, thanks! As you said I went with the weight of total ingredients and 2% salt. Good to know both methods depending on the ingredients used. Cheers

Could it be that one has a lot more yeast in suspension than the other (different flocculation properties)? I've often found that a bottle can go from amber when still slightly hazy to a more straw colour when properly cleared. Sorry - just saw that both have similar clarity. Strange

With the brine soultion, is it 2% of water added, or of the total ingredient weight? I'm making a hot sauce with an overripe mango which was very juicy so only had to add about 50ml of water to a small jar. The salt content must be more than 2% of 50ml right? 2% of the total ingredients in the jar?

I think getting it cold definitely helps. My cooling is limited but can get it down to 8/9c for a few days and even at this temp it works well for me. I'm sure colder would be even better. Never tried it warm mind.

I think any unflavoured gelatine will work. I bought some from a supermarket. Think it was Dr. Oetker

Looking good! I've also had a go as had been meaning to do something similar for a while and saw your post. Just waiting to bottle. Only 5l as not sure how quickly I would get through it. Will scale up if all is good.

For gelatine, boil about 200ml of water for 10 mins. Wait for water to cool to 80c. Add 1/2 teaspoon gelatine for a 5 gallon batch to the water and stir. Pour into fermenter. Preferably add when fermenter is cold if possible and hold for a few days before bottling / kegging.

Crystal really depends on the type of beer you are trying to make. Pale ales, bitters may use up to 10% of the grain bill (could be more or less). American beers often use less (APA's, IPAs etc). If you're only looking to improve head retention, you can as said above add torrified wheat / wheat...

It's definitely one of the best purchases you will make to avoid stress at the end of a brewday

Lots of members utilise a "no chill cube." Basically, transferring hot wort to a sealed heat proof container (often some kind of a plastic jerry can that can contract). There are pros and cons to this. I prefer to chill my wort rapidly but lots have used the above method with success. If you...

I've used the same swing top bottles for over 80 brews (maybe over 7 or so years) and I've not yet had to change any seals. The bottles are a mix of grolsh and wilko (plastic seals) bottles and the ceramic top style bottles (previously a German beer). I clean each bottle with water after...